Southeast women collect first OVC victory on road

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team stubbornly picked up its first Ohio Valley Conference victory of the season Saturday night.

Southeast, which grabbed the lead in the opening minute of the game and trailed only for a matter of seconds at the start of the second half, emerged with a 75-64 victory over Austin Peay at the Dunn Center in Clarksville, Tenn.

The Redhawks, who led by as many as 12 points, continually repelled runs by the Govs, who proved pesky in dropping their eighth consecutive game.

"It was big, there's no question," Southeast coach Ty Margenthaler said about the win. "It wasn't make-or-break by no means being the second [OVC] game, but just confidence and a lot of things."

Southeast, which improved to 5-10 overall and 1-1 in the OVC, was coming off an 84-74 home loss to Belmont in its conference opener.

"I said, 'Hey, we had one slip at home against a good Belmont team, but we've got to go make up for it on the road,'" Margenthaler said. "To be able to bounce back and do that, and to put us 1-1 in the early stages -- I hope it gives us confidence and carries over."

Senior guard Jordan Hunter scored 19 points to help the Redhawks defeat Austin Peay for the third consecutive time. Hunter entered the game averaging just 6.4 points.

"When Jordan Hunter plays really well and scores for us, we typically win games," Margenthaler said. "She knows she's been struggling a little bit and her confidence has been wavering a bit. But I was really proud and hope she breaks out because when Jordan plays like she did tonight, we're a different basketball team. I just hope she keeps it going."

Southeast senior forward Patricia Mack, who was averaging 9.3 rebounds, pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds as the Redhawks held a 31-25 edge on the boards.

Sophomore guard Tiasha Gray paced the Govs (3-11, 0-1) with 16 points, but was just 3 of 16 from the field in the second half.

"I thought [sophomore guard] Kara Wright did an awesome job defending her in the second half," Margenthaler said.

Southeast also held Austin Peay 6-foot-3 freshman Tearra Banks to just two points.

Austin Peay grabbed its first and only lead of the game when Banks scored inside for a 37-36 lead with 18:53 left in the game.

Hunter replied seconds later for a 38-37 lead. The Redhawks rebuilt their lead to seven points when freshman Brianna Mitchell connected from the right corner of the free-throw line for a 50-43 advantage at the 12:40 mark. The Govs closed to within 55-52, but Southeast answered with a 7-0 burst that was capped by a 3-pointer by junior Allyson Bradshaw with 6:10 left. Bradshaw finished with 11 points.

The lead never fell below six points down the stretch despite the Govs, the worst free-throw shooting team in the OVC, hitting nine consecutive free throws at one point.

Southeast took a 36-35 lead into halftime after leading by as many as 12 points on a couple of occasions.

Sophomore guard Olivia Hackman scored all 13 of her points in the first half.

"Olivia Hackman really played a great first half offensively and really got us going," Margenthaler said. "I thought we had good minutes from a lot of players."

Southeast scored the game's first six points on 3-pointers by Hunter. Southeast built its lead to double figures when Hackman hit on a long jumper for a 16-6 advantage with 14:08 left in the half.

"We haven't been getting off to very good starts, and we've been trailing and we've been doing a great job of fighting and coming back, but we wanted to get ourselves up, and tonight we got ourselves going right away," Margenthaler said. "I thought our defense was lock on."

A 3-pointer by Bradshaw from the right wing with 8:16 left in the half gave Southeast a 28-16 lead, but the Govs outscored Southeast 19-8 over the remainder of the half.

The Redhawks led 34-25 on a conventional three-point play by Hackman with 4:20 left for a 34-25 lead. However, the Redhawks connected on just one of their final seven shots from the field in the half as the Govs finished with a 10-2 burst. A bank shot in the lane by Gray at the buzzer brought Austin Peay, which began to find success inside, to within one point at the break.

Southeast shot 42 percent from the field for the game, while Austin Peay shot 36.8 percent.

Southeast returns to action Monday when it visits Murray State.